Photographic developing process.



F. W. NORTON.

PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPING PROCESS.

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FRANK W. NORTON', 0F CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPING PROCESS.

4Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept, 1916.

i Application led .T uly 19. 1915. Serial No. 40,786.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. NORTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Ioiva, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements iir Photographic DevelopingProcesses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the art of developing. fixing and Washingphotographic prints, and specifically to a method or process by which alarge number of such prints may be treated simultaneously.

Mechanism by means of which the process is carried out is shown anddescribed in Iietters Patent No.1,074,572, issued to me on the.tliirtieth day of September, 1913. The same conforms, in the main, tothe mechanism shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a. part ofthis specification, in Which- Figure l is a. viewiii perspective ofapparatus adapted for the working of the -piocess. Fig. 2 shows how abunch of prints may be handled. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of one cellor unit in a series of liquid-holding tanks commonly used in the,

practice -of the process. Fig. 4 shows a re movable container for a.pack of printsheets, by lnieans of which they are most convenientlyhandled.

' following:

The essential steps in the process are the First, a thorough immersionof the prints, preferable separate when so immersed, in water, or othersuitable liquid, thereby to prevent their sticking together 'duringthesubsequent steps of the process.

Second, assembling the Wet sheets vin a fairly symmetrical pack. Thismay be done in the act of immersingthe sheets in a rather deep tray, theoperator simply slipping each sheet in the liquid edgewise, so asto'thoroughly Wet both sides, and stacking the sheets neatly .in thetray, Without effort or loss of time. y

Third, placing a pack of such assembled Wet. sheets edgewise down in atank but little larger than the pack, and'con'taining the de-.l siredliquid or solution agitated by therein edgewise of the sheets, andallowing the `pack to remain therein the requisite lengthof time.

air forced l vFinally, separatingr the sheets, after reinoval from thetank, andv permitting them to dry.

The foregoing applies as Well to the various operations incident todevelopment, as to the Whole series of operations. That is to say, theprocess applies as Well to development, rinsing, fixing and finalWashing, considered se arately, s tothese operations in a series. npractice the process yis even more useful as applied to fixing, or toiinal Washing, than to developing or rinsing, since either of the formeroperations consume much more time than either of the latter. Normallythe sequence of operations is: immersion to thoroughly Wet the printsand prevent sticking together inthe pack; assem.

development might be done separately, and` the pack arranged after suchrinsing, but the process would still apply to the subsequent operationsof fixing and Washing. In practice it is of course desirable to treatthe prints en masse in all operations following the initial immersionpreceding' developnient, but it is not absolutely necessary so to do inthe practice of the process.

In the drawings I have shown the simple apparatus necessary to thecarrying out of the process.y

The` numeral l refers to a tank having a separate. series ofconipartments,'2, 3, 4 and 5. In the normal order of operations 2 wouldcontain developer, 3, clear water, preferably flowing, the Water beingad mitted through a supply pipe 6 and the over flow 'passing out at l2."In 4- would be placed the hypo or fixing solution, and in 5 clear,flowing Water, as in 3. It has not been deemed necessary to illustratethe apparatus for the first step, though this step is of the .pan Will'serve for the preliminary,immer-` sion and vassembling of the sheetshorizontally, or the transferring container 13, having a perforatedbottom 14' may be sunk in a tank of clear Water, and the prints slippedinto it separately and edge down.. Once so assembled the pack is themost easily transferred from one compartment to another in the generaltank, though such pack, l0, may be handled. as shown in Fig. 2. V

ln practice all of the compartmentsof the general tank are supplied withmening water, or rather piped therefor from a general supply-pipe 7,each provided with a. faire S. The pack should be suitably supportedabove the water inlet, and alsothat of the an', as by a perforated falsebottom D. Air under pressure is admitted to each c nnpartinent through apipe Il. The direction of the incoming air should be edgewise of thesheets, and preferably from the bottom of the tank, the sheets standingon edge while subjected to the action of the agitated liquid. By thissimple process excellent results are secured, and at a rate ofproduction almost incornparaliily L greater than would he possible inany single treatment of thc prints without greatly increased labor.

In order to obtain the highest efficiency in the apparatus where a largeproduction is sought, there should be a larger number of cells providedfor the fixing and `Washing operations than for that of development,inasmuch as they require much more time, as previously set forth.

In the normal sequence of operations it i is to he considered that therinsing;r of the prints after immersion in the developer, might, to a`limited extent, be dispensed with,

i its .main purpose being* to wash ofi' developer solution, arrestfurther development, and prevent adultcration of the hypo hath withdeveloper. Subject to these objections, which in extended operationswould he serious, the pack might, with satisfactory results hc passed anumber of times, more or less, from the developer directly to the hypo.In extended operations, however, for which the process is peculiarlyadapted the rinse is to he considered as one of the es sentia]operations in normal dcvclopnwnt, as hereinlue'lore stated. i, i

liavlng` thus described my invention, claim: l. An improved process inthewdevelop inout of photographicprints, which consists in innncrsingthe prints in liquid to n'event subscrpient adherence, asuinibling` thewet sheets in a pack, immun'sinnr the pack, edge down, in a suitablehath into which air un' memes der pressure is forced edgewise of thepack, und finally removing from the bath separating and drying.

2. An improvement in the method of treating photographic prints in thedevelopment thereof, which consists in immersing each sheet in liquid soas to wet its entire surface, assembling a pack of the Wet sheets in asuitable container adapted to admit liquid freely from below, iinmersingthe pack while o l' ld in a suitable bath in which air under pressure isforced edge' wise of the pack, and finally removing from the container,separating and drying the sheets. l

3. An improved method of developing photographic prints, which consistsin first immersing the prints in liquid to thoroughly wet the surface ofeach sheet, assembling the Wet sheets in a pack, exposing the pack tothe action of developing, fixing and washing baths, into which air underpressure is forced edgewise of the pack, and finally removing from thebath separating the sheets and drying them.

An improved method of developing photographic prints', which consists inimnlersing the sheets in liquid to thoroughly wet both surfaces of eachsheet, assembling' the sheets in a pack4 and in a container adapted toadmit liquid freely from below, and successively imnmrsing said packwhile so held, inl developing, fixingr and washino' baths into which airunder pressure is force edgewise of the sheets, and finally removingfrom the bath separating and drying the sheets. V

An improved :method of developing photographic prints, which consists inthoroughly wetting both surfaces of cach print, assembling the wetprints in a pack, immers-- ing the pack, edge dovro, in successive bathsl of developer, rinseevater, hypo, and Washwater, into which baths airunder pressure is forced in a direction edgewise of the pack, andfinally removing from the bath slqnu'ating and drying said prints.

ln testimony whereof l affix my signature `in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK lV. NQRTON.

